If Clay Matthews ever thought his thumb was something to be taken for granted, an offseason of rehabbing from an injury and a subsequent surgery that left him with a thumb that looked like “a shark attack” made him think twice.

In an interview with For The Win last week, Matthews said his thumb is “feeling great” after months of rehab and he’s ready to start another run for the Lombardi Trophy.

“I think the fact that I’m out of a cast definitely helps me out tremendously,” he said. “You know I’ve done everything I could and I’ve had a sufficient amount of time off that it should allow me to do everything I need to do with my hand … ultimately I don’t think it should affect my game in any way.

“I think the more I continue to play on it and practice on it, the more physically it will continue to recover and learn to absorb the stress and rigors of the game as well as mentally knowing that throwing it in there it will be fine,” he added. “I think that’s what so great about this preseason for me – not only refining my skills but just having the confidence to go back out there and throw it around and know that everything’s alright.”

In an interview with For The Win (which has been condensed below), Matthews also discussed his team’s use of Tinder, domestic violence in the NFL and his new ad campaign with Hugo Boss, which he’s appearing in with Demarcus Ware and Victor Cruz.

For The Win: Earlier this [month] the Wall Street Journal published an article about Jets players using Tinder. You’re probably too well known to use it, but are there guys in your locker room who do?

Clay Matthews:I do not know … I’ve heard of what Tinder is but I personally have never been on it or used the app or anything but I don’t know [about the team] to be honest. The thing about Green Bay, in particular, is it’s such a small city, such a small town that it’s very hard for athletes to go out and not be recognized because the city is so crazy about football, they know who every football player is and what they look like that I’m sure it’s probably difficult for players to go out and start dating.

At the same time, we hope that football is at the forefront of what everyone is here for and we handle our business on the field and hopefully dating or anything off the field will fall in place.

FTW: As a spokesman for Hugo Boss, I’m sure you get sent a ton of free cologne, clothes and other stuff. Do you ever try to make the locker room smell better by spraying it [on rookies?] Do other players ever get jealous?

Matthews: There’s not that much hazing going on anymore. I think for the most part of dressing up is not only how you look but how you feel. Part of that is making sure not only you look good but you smell good as well. That type of way you get when you step out of the house or wherever that is and you’re looking good, you’re feeling good and there’s always that old saying in my business if you look good, you feel good, you play good. So it’s very much the same thing in making sure you’re covering all of your boundaries with fragrance and cologne in general.

Obviously I’m not a professional in telling you about the cologne, you know it’s woody notes and all of that … you know it’s a fantastic cologne and one that many men are going to want to have.

FTW: There have been reports that the NFL is considering a mandatory four to six game suspension for players who have been charged with or involved with domestic violence. Is that something you’d support?

Matthews: At the beginning of the year we always talk about things that have played out from previous years or over the previous offseason and how well our team has done staying out of the limelight and out of trouble so I think we did specifically a great job of that. But … I think the NFL has a responsibility to show that it’s a leader amongst its employees, as far as how we conduct ourselves. We have so many fans out there — men, women, children and not just in the US but around the world, I think it makes it very important to take a stand for all sorts of … things that are going on around here and I’m sure one of those will be addressed if there’s domestic violence …

I think it’s a subject we’ll have to deal with moving forward, but I think if we handle our responsibilities, being responsible and taking care of our business on and off the field hopefully everything will fall in place.

Hopefully there won’t be any more of those situations but yeah the NFL has to do something to show you know they take a stance.

FTW: You were working with Demarcus Ward and Victor Cruz on the Hugo Boss campaign — did you guys hang out a lot? Was it friendly or a lot of competition?

Matthews: For us anytime we get together, especially guys like Demarcus and Victor who are just pleasant to be around, both of those guys understand that in the end it’s just a game and we’re just trying to have fun, make a few plays and get a win. So anytime you can find guys like that and spend some quality time like that outside the field, it’s always great and refreshing to hear from them.

“I think the fact that I’m out of a cast definitely helps me out tremendously,” he said.

I found this on FTW and wanted to share:
%link%
For more great sports stories ...
*visit For The Win: https://www.ftw.usatoday.com
*follow @ForTheWin: https://www.twitter.com/forthewin
*like FTW on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usatodayftw